flesh & blood
by TheOtherExperiment
Summary: An infection has befallen the United States, cutting it off from the rest of the world. Can the kids from Shiganshina University pull through an apocalypse? Zombie/epidemic modern AU


Title: _flesh & blood_

Bio: _An infection has befallen the United States, cutting it off from the rest of the world. Can the kids from Shiganshina University pull through an apocalypse? Zombie/epidemic modern AU _

Warnings: _Rated T for violence later on and emotional distress of the characters and maybe some bad language (only a few words every few chapters, I guess)_

Disclaimer: _I do not own any of the Shingeki no Kyojin world/characters/titans/whatever. I only own this plot idea and this version of the Zombie/epidemic AU. _

"And then, the bastard cut in front of me!" Eren Jaeger said, his tone beyond the realms of controlled annoyance. He threw his hands up in exasperation as he continued his rant, which was just a story from yesterday's drive home from his summer-job. Eren paraded around the kitchen in search of his toothbrush, which never seemed to be in the last place he left it, and his flat-mate Armin pretended to understand his anger-fuelled growling whilst actually listening to the news, which was playing on the counter TV. It was a Saturday, but both boys had Saturday jobs in the mid-morning, seeing as they needed some way to support themselves and their bills during the summer holidays, whilst they weren't attending university.

"That's awful, Eren," Armin agreed absently, pouring more milk onto his cereal, glancing from his flat-mate back to the TV. The report currently being shown was ten-fold more interesting than usual. Eren continued to rant as Armin unplugged his charging phone and checked it for messages, reading through some emails too.

"and then- Armin, are you even listening to me?" Eren sat down at the counter and pulled a bowl out of the cupboard for his breakfast.

"Hmm? Oh, right, yeah. Definitely," Armin muttered, slipping his phone into his pocket. Eren seemed satisfied with the white lie, and continued on, louder than before.

"Wait, quiet a second Eren," Armin asked, picking up the remote and turning up the TV volume, telling the brunet to listen to what was on the news. Eren looked slightly taken aback, but fixed his short-span attention to the balding news reporter.

"_Citizens have been advised to remain inside their houses, and to report any unusual behaviour from neighbours and family members. Precautionary leaflets have been issued to everyone in the town, and measures are being taken to ensure the safety of everyone," _

Eren read the headlines running along the bottom of the screen quickly. An epidemic had broken out in a large town in Illinois, and so far twenty people had already caught the infection. The origin and cure of the infection were currently undiscovered.

"Mahomet…that's not far from here," Armin said, standing up and dropping his empty bowl into the sink.

"Uh, only about two miles from here, actually. I wonder if they'll send us leaflets too," Eren agreed.

"They probably will, seems pretty serious."

"I bet it's zombies,"

"Don't be stupid, Eren,"

Armin pushed open the back door of the local bookshop, dropping his messenger bag onto a hook on the wall and making his way to the counter at the back of the store. Marco was already there manning the counter, but the shop was uncharacteristically busy today, so Armin figured it wouldn't hurt to have two people serving. Stacking the new stock would still need doing, though.

"Hey Armin," Marco greeted with a happy smile. He waved to the person he'd just served as they left the store.

"Hey Marco," Armin replied, mirroring the smile. He entered his details into the second counter station, and waited for another customer to approach the desk. He looked around the store, and nudged Marco, nodding towards a familiar face. The bookstore was a strange place to find Jean Kirschtein.

"Hey, what's Jean doing here?" Armin asked Marco.

"Jean's always in here, but he never buys anything. I'm surprised you haven't noticed," Marco said, the tips of his ears tinging ever-so-slightly red. Armin had noticed this, but he hadn't asked about it before. Armin was about to reply, but was distracted by another customer. Small conversation was passed between the two cashiers throughout their shifts, until one of them had to go out back and take care of the stock that hadn't been taken care of yet. Armin asked whether Marco had seen the news report this morning, but Marco had said no, and nothing else was thought on the matter.

Hanji pulled off the plastic gloves covering her hands and shrugged off her white lab-coat as she exited the now-locked cryogenics lab. Her hair was tied in a messy ponytail to keep it out of her eyes as she worked, and an enthusiastic grin still plastered her face. She had decided to call in for a night and head home, accidentally not looking at the wall clock and realising the time until now. Hanji picked up her bag and slung it over one shoulder, waving to the receptionist in the labs on her way out.

She scrolled through her emails quickly, finding several had come into her inbox, unusually. One or two of them were flagged as important. She decided she better read them properly when she got home. '_Epidemic' _seemed to be the subject of most of them, and this both excited Hanji and shot a cold shiver down her neck, as the choice of words could never mean anything good.

Two days later, the epidemic in the neighbouring town seemed to be the subject of almost every single news headline throughout the day and night. It plastered the online newspapers and social-media websites, all claiming that the unknown illness had spread down to Chicago and even onto small portions of the neighbouring states. Scientists were working round the clock to find an explanation and cure, but no luck had befallen them quite yet. Warnings were being issued out everywhere in the USA, leaflets filled with all manner of gruesome symptoms and ways of prevention. Thankfully, the infection hadn't made its way to our particular town of focus here.

"Eren, you should really stop playing that now," Mikasa scolded her slightly-older brother for continuing to avidly play video-games far too far into the night. Armin peered over his lamp-lit desk to see if Eren had at all reacted. The blaring noises coming from the living-room TV continued on and Eren grunted a short response to the scolding.

"Shh, I've almost beat Jean," Eren's eyes were glued to the screen and his hands gripped the controller tightly in anticipation of beating his 'arch-enemy'. Jean and Eren, when they ever saw each other during the summer, usually ended up arguing with each other, but it never went further than that. They both had high-strung temperamental issues. Mikasa scowled at his reply and focused her attention back to the book in her hands. Titan, the trio's Irish Wolf-hound, lounged over her legs, keeping her feet warm and managing to sleep despite the trilling gun sounds coming from the TV.

Armin's phone vibrated next to his hand resting on the desk. He stopped scribbling down whatever notes he was copying up and picked up the device. Marco had texted.

_Just watched the news, and they're warning us to stay inside for the next few days because the infection has reached the town _

Armin stared at the text for a few seconds. Because the infection had not yet reached the town, despite being so close to its origin town, Armin was uncharacteristically surprised that the epidemic was here already. He frowned, and tapped out a quick reply. He hoped that the scientists were going to find a cure or vaccine quickly.

_A/N – There will be a time-skip in the next chapter. Don't worry, most of the characters from SnK will be in the fic, but they come in at different points. I don't actually a plot yet, just gonna roll with it. I don't know whether to put this on Tumblr. Maybe I will. _


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